Brazilian swimmer Tatiana Barbosa fixes her goggles during the inauguration ceremony of the swimming and diving stadium in Rio de Janeiro on Sunday. The Games will be held in Rio de Janeiro from July 13-29. - AP

SAO PAULO, Brazil (AP):

What a perfect setting for Brazilian athletes.

The Americas' biggest sports festival is taking place at home, by the famous beaches of Rio de Janeiro, with Sugarloaf mountain and that newly crowned world wonder, the Christ the Redeemer statue, in the background.

Enthusiastic Rio citizens will be watching a sporting competition of this type for the first time, and it's an event that ultimately could prove that Brazil is capable of hosting a World Cup or an Olympics.

But despite all the hype and excitement, not even the most optimistic athletes - or analysts - believe Brazil has any chance of dislodging the United States and Cuba from the top of the medals table during the July 13-29 Pan American Games.

Their hopes

The most the Brazilians are hoping for is to improve their medals take from the 2003 Games in the Dominican Republic, possibly overcoming Canada for third place in the overall standings.

"Historically, the country hosting a competition such as the Pan American Games improves its performance," Brazil's delegation chief Marcus Vinicius Freire said. "And we hope this happens with Brazil, too. It's always an advantage to compete with the fans' support and at the local venues."

Brazil had its best performance ever in the Dominican Republic, winning 123 medals, including 29 gold. Canada won the same number of gold medals, but finished ahead of Brazil in the final count with 128 total medals. The United States finished first with 117 gold medals, and Cuba was second with 72.

"Our goal is to finish third in Rio," Freire said. "But it certainly won't be easy,"

Brazil hasn't finished as high as third at the Games since Winnipeg in 1967, when Cuba didn't have the dominant team it has fielded in recent years.

US team

The United States are expected to bring only a few of its top athletes, but not even that is likely to boost the host nation's chances to surge to the top.

"Brazil will be able to field complete teams in most sports, and the athletes will get an emotional boost from playing at home, but it will remain very difficult to overcome the U.S. and Cuba in total numbers," said Ed Hula, editor of Around the Rings, a global news organisation devoted to Olympic sports.

Brazil already has "a better performance than the United States and Cuba in several sports, but it's still complicated to think about overcoming these two Olympic powerhouses in the medal count," Freire said.

With the Games' biggest delegation, 661 athletes, Brazil could dominate in several sports, including volleyball, beach volleyball, handball and sailing, all competitions in which the nation has excelled internationally in recent years.

Brazil will remain favourites in soccer, but chances for gold are not that high in the men's event, which will be played with under-20 squads.

The women's team, winners in 2003, will have its top stars - including FIFA world player of the year Marta - and better chances for a medal. The competition will be mainly against the United States, which is sending its under-20 team, and Canada.

Biggest stars

Brazil's biggest stars in other sports include Olympic medalists Rodrigo Pessoa, who won the equestrian show jumping title at the 2004 Athens Olympics, and sailor Robert Scheidt, an eight-time world champion.

"It's an enormous challenge to participate in a competition of this level in our country," Pessoa told the Veja news magazine.

Other top contenders include gymnast Daiane dos Santos, swimmer Thiago Pereira, and table tennis player Hugo Hoyama, the nation's top gold medalist in the Pan Am Games with eight. He is tied with former swimmer Gustavo Borges.

Another one of Brazil's biggest hopes for gold is Jadel Gregorio, who has the year's best mark in the triple jump. He finished fifth in the Athens Olympics and holds the South American record.

In the marathon, Marcia Narloch and Vanderlei Cordeiro de Lima - famous for being attacked while leading the Olympic marathon in Athens - are among the favourites. And women's long jumper Maurren Maggi is second in the world rankings.

Brazil hosted the Pan Ams in Sao Paulo in 1963, when the event was much smaller. Sao Paulo should have hosted the competition again in 1975, but a meningitis outbreak and other internal problems eventually forced the Pan Ams to be moved to Mexico City.